Dorm Management
by Tea in the Summer
Summary: With a scheming foster mother and an unfortunate embarrassment, Sakura was thrown into the chaotic world of the F-Class Dorm, the worst dormitory in Konoha High. "Traitors. Sweet and delicious-looking traitors. I blame this hell to the God of Sweets!"
1. Chapter 1

_A little author's note: I keep reminding myself not to post this yet, because, I know I won't even update for a long time but, I guess temptations are hard to resist. Now I shall let you suffer an unfinished story. Hm, I may or may not update. I would but, I'm just too busy. Apparently, I was elected as a Newsletter committee head in our school organization and well, it might be a not much of a high position but, that position will deal so much work. And so, without further ado, here's the story. Enjoy._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter I – The Curse of the Sweets<strong>

_Hastening my pace, I found myself being chased by gingerbread men. I swear it wasn't my fault that their house looked so delicious. Though, I doubt that they would believe me, so, risking my life I grabbed a tasty-looking rope, which I found out it was actually an ultra long licorice, and swung on a branch._

_**Safe!**_

_Or not, as I slipped from the branch and fell towards the ground, I do wonder why my face hurts. Did I actually land on my face?_

* * *

><p>Waking up, Sakura found herself making out with her own desk as the entire class stared at the girl.<p>

"Psst! Sakura," She heard someone calling out her name in a whisper, well she wished it was a whisper, as she slowly went to meet towards her doom, lifting her head from the desk.

Meeting a pair of blue eyes, she saw a blond girl, slapping her forehead while pointing out something: Her cheek, maybe?

"What do you want, Ino?" At that point, everybody except the not-so-amused teacher laughed at her unfortunate demise.

Realizing, she touched her cheek and felt something wet. It was a sloppy drool. Ew.

"Ha-ru-no!" The teacher, who was unfortunately the infamous brutal Mitarashi Anko, interrupted the laughter, when the bell rang at the same time.

Even if the class was over, she's still in trouble. Big time.

The girl, who called out to warn her beforehand, looked at her in pity and stood up, sighing as she left with the words, "Good luck, Sak," like Sakura was about to face the devil, himself.

She then began to wipe off the drool, and groaned inwardly, 'Man, this is like what, the third or fourth time this month? Seriously, I'm surprised I'm not given the title: Drool Queen in the headlines of Konoha High's newspapers.'

SLAM!

Snapping out of her thoughts, she watched the pissed teacher, walking towards her after closing the door, rather loudly, as she started fixing her things.

"Haruno."

"Y-yes, sensei?"

"THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME YOU SLEPT ON MY CLASS! YOU WEREN'T ALWAYS..."

There she blows. Students always wondered how the people she caught were still alive and well, referring to their ears that is.

'Oh, so it was already my fifth. Wait. This is no time for counting, dim-witted me!' Was what she thought.

"Sorry, Mitarashi-sensei! I just..."

"No. Don't talk. I don't need any explanations," A grin reeking with evil intentions, in Sakura's creative imagination, was what was present on Anko's face. Were those lightning strikes behind her?

'Uh-oh. It seems she wasn't able to get any dangos for lunch today.'

Shivering, Sakura was stuck like glue on her seat in fear of what the teacher might do to her.

"I've got the perfect punishment for you and I'm sure, your foster mother, the head of the school board would be delighted to be informed of this."

"S-Sensei?" She looked at her teacher with fear.

"That's right. You'll become the dorm manager of the worst dormitory in this school, the F-class dorm."

'Curse those gingerbread men and all those sweet tasty treats in the world.'

* * *

><p>While adjusting her shoulder bag for comfort, Sakura was pulling a suitcase, which was filled with clothes and other important items, as she cursed under her breath. She was still a bit mad that her own mother, um well, foster mother actually agreed (and quite so happily too) to this...this hell.<p>

'Gee, she could've at least spared me a map. I bet she even forgot that I'm directionally-challenged.'

After some time of walking, Sakura then found herself in the same spot she passed through earlier. She realized she just walked around on circles, "Where the hell is that stupid dorm?" Frustrated, she threw her shoulder bag, as it flung so high carelessly, "Ow!" that it hit someone.

With the sound coming from behind her, she turned around to see an annoyed looking boy, clutching his head while holding her poor bag.

"Tsk. What's wrong with you woman? Do you usually attack people unconsciously with your bag?"

"A-Ah, I'm sorry," Sakura quickly bowed her head, "I didn't mean to vent my frustrations on you."

The guy sighed, "How troublesome."

Being the short-tempered girl she was, Sakura snatched her bag from him in a fierce manner, "Not as troublesome as you! What the heck? I already apologized."

Shaking his pineapple head, he scratched and shrugged, "Hm. Thank you," But before he could fully turn around, he was stopped by a grasp on his arm.

"Wait!"

With another sigh from the guy, "What now?" he gazed at the lost girl.

"Do you know where the F-Class Dorm is? I'm kinda...sorta...lost?" Sakura laughed at herself sheepishly, "You see I'm not so good at directions so..."

"I could take you there. I need some ice pack from that sudden hit anyways," the guy said while rubbing his head, where the bag was smacked earlier, "Actually, you're already standing beside the dorm building with a few walks left to the main door."

It seemed Sakura was worse than she thought, 'Wow, Sakura. How could you have missed that?'

* * *

><p>"So what brings you here in F-class?"<p>

After the arrival of the two, the guy introduced himself as Shikamaru, one of the people that live in the dorm. Grabbing a pack of ice, he put them on his head as he gestured Sakura to sit on the sofa that was occupied with clothes. It was unknown whether they were dirty or the clean ones, but, she had her best bet that they were too mixed up that all of them are dirty at the end of the day.

Anyhow, snapping out from her disgust of the messy dorm, which composed of scattered empty cups of ramen, dog poop, which by the way scented the whole atmosphere of the living room, cookie crumbs and the cookies themselves, spilled milk, dirty foot prints and detergent bubbles coming from another room, Sakura finally answered him, "H-Huh? What did you say?" Though, it didn't keep her from taking a glance every now and then.

'Wait, was that...Did that green pile of goo just move?'

"I asked why you came here."

"Oh, um, I'm actually here assigned to..."

SLAM!

"I swear you cheated on the last two minutes, teme! I could've won if you played fairly!" A half-naked blond entered and him being usually oblivious, he didn't notice the female guest who was talking to Shikamaru.

Same as the blond, but with a different reason, as he was busy arguing with said blond at the moment, a guy with dark-colored hair, shaped oddly like cockatoo's bottom, also didn't see Sakura and retorted, "I never cheated. Just admit it, dobe. I won this time."

Soon following the blond and the black-haired guy were three people, who were pretty much annoyed by the blond's loud voice. Inwardly, they were hoping the bickering would stop.

One of the three guys, a long brown-haired person sighed in annoyance and decided to finally take action, "Would you quit it Naruto?"

In silent agreement, the one with similar hair except its length also decided to take action, as the both of them ganged up on the blond, "Sasuke won. Get over it. Tsk, I wonder where Akamaru went..."

Naruto, known for not giving up easily and is pretty much stubborn, replied...yelled back, "No he did not! He cheated, it doesn't count! I won't..."

Fake Cough.

Catching all of their attention, Shikamaru interrupted their dispute, "Sorry for cutting short your lovers' quarrel, but we have a guest," as he made a fleeting look at Sakura for emphasis, "So why were you here again?"

Irritated, not only because of the disturbance but also to the dirty environment, Sakura stood up, "I'm Haruno Sakura and I'm going to be your dorm manager. I also have a question, myself; Where's the bathroom?"

As a guy, with the same looks as the dark-haired one except the shape of the hair and that it was shorter, pointed a door, Sakura rushed into it and started vomiting in the toilet bowl.

There was silence in the living room, until the blond suddenly decided to break it, as always, "Cool! We have a new dorm manager!"

"Shut up, dobe."

"Sasuke-teme! What's wrong with..."

SLAM!

The door was opened with force once more.

"Oi! You better move out of my way mother fuckers 'cause I'm taking my fucking sleep. Damn bitchy Kakuzu won the stupid bet again! I fucking lost all of my month's shitty savings!"

Right on time, the abused door fell right off its hinges. This was soon followed by more sentences of cussing. Poor door.

"Oh, shit! Now, I owe the damn bitch more shitty money!"

It was worse than Sakura had thought.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Since I haven't continued this for a very long time, beware of the things that might have drastically changed. My writing style changed and I have given a more serious tone for this story. The first chapter was written like a year ago and I created this chapter a year ago, but it was finished and continued only today. And most of the things written here were only written this year, so yeah, you'll notice the difference. Maybe. __Now on with the story.__  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter II – Of complaints and feelings<strong>

Untidy hair, over-the-top obvious eye bags, reddened pair of eyes and a slouchy posture; No wonder a blond-haired girl screamed of horror as soon as she came across Sakura, who we all know was driven to hell by the series of fortunate...or rather..._unfortunate_ events. Sure, others may think of it as a blessing in disguise to be surrounded by _fresh_ hot males, but, it'll take a lot to convince the pink-haired manager that.

"Sakura! What happened to you? You look like...You look like...!"

Said girl groaned, "Don't say it, Ino! Don't say it...!"

"You look like a million cows fell over you with a dozen of elephants."

"Cut the exaggeration, Ino-pig. I know I look like crap."

"Not just crap, Sakura. It's a total sh..."

Sakura gave a glare, which was surprisingly effective on shutting the other girl's mouth up. What with that kind of poor-looking pair of eyes? It was much expected that it may not work, but, it did.

"I know. I know. I'm zipping my mouth now."

Then, the bell rang for homeroom.

* * *

><p>"You exploded in the F-Class dorm?" With a quick slap on her mouth, a brown-haired girl covered it and offered an apologetic look to Sakura.<p>

Sakura, who didn't react as much, just sighed, "It's okay, Tenten. Everyone has already been talking about my stay in that hellhole and it's all thanks to a certain someone," before giving the umpteenth piercing glare on Ino, in which she flinched in reaction.

Another blond, except tied into four ponytails, was drinking her can of soda, when she finally made a comment about the issue, "I know you were such a neat freak, Sakura, but, to explode and have a cleaning spree in their dorm? That's going way overboard."

Ino nodded in agreement, "I know right? That's why she stayed up all night, cleaning the whole dorm."

"B-but, won't the guys hate you for touching...um...their stuff? It's a-all about privacy, you know? You don't e-exactly look good as well," The last girl in the group with milky eyes stared at her pink-haired friend with worry. She's currently the most frantic out of the group for Sakura, who's mostly filled up with thoughts such as the girl collapsing either from exhaustion or lack of sleep.

Sakura laughed nervously, "Err...yeah. Some of them...didn't take it so well."

All she received were stares.

"Okay, okay. Most of them hate my guts. Like what Hinata said, privacy and stuff."

Her friends gave glances among each other before they stare again at Sakura with worry.

"At least, one of them's not mad...? Okay, Shikamaru might be annoyed but, he got over it! Temari, Tenten, Ino, Hinata! Don't give me that look!"

Temari then sighed, "Well, we can't do anything about it anymore. You just gotta earn their respect. God knows, what Gaara will do to you for touching _his_ stuff. You know how my little brother is, but, I hope my hunch on his soft spot for you is true or he'll go psycho on you."

Sakura just rolled her eyes while replying with full sarcasm, "Gee, thanks for the reassurance Tem," taking a bite on her sandwich.

"W-well, at least I know that Na-na-Naruto-kun's not tha-that kind of person, Sakura-chan and I'm sure he-he'll be nice to you," Hinata, blushing like a tomato, drank her apple juice box.

"Don't defend him, Hinata. We all know you got the hots for him," Ino nonchalantly said; Really, Sakura and the others always wondered what Hinata saw in him, but, if she wasn't ready on telling, it's fine with them.

Sakura, soon followed Ino's statement, "Oh Hinata, if only you knew what his room looked like, I doubt you'll ever look at him in that light again. Trust me; you don't want to see what it looked like before I cleaned it. Though, I can agree with you that he was the nicest person there at the very least,"

And of course, the neat freak Sakura had to dramatically exaggerate.

* * *

><p>The bell rang and it was the end of school. Sakura and the gang were already fixing their things, when Anko, who now Sakura calls as the "merciless, evil dango overlord of a teacher", called out to her from the door of the classroom. Now what does she want from her now?<p>

Sakura could only groan from despair; nothing ever ended up good whenever it has something to do with Anko, 'I swear. It was the dangos' fault. If they didn't run out of dango in the lunchroom, Mitarashi-sensei wouldn't have given me this stupid, disgusting, dumb...'While fixing her things, she ended up shoving everything in because of anger, but as soon as she noticed that it was not arranged right, she calmed down and sighed, 'I should stop. Nothing will change anyways even if I curse her to death.'

"You okay Sakura?" Her milky-eyed friend, Hinata never seemed to fail to worry for her. Heck, she was paranoid to all of this for her friend. If only she could make the situation better for her.

"Okay guys, I'm going ahead. I still have some dorm manager duties to attend to," Sakura grabbed her bag and began proceeding to her doom, when she was stopped by a hand.

"Just wait a second, Sak. You're forgetting something," Her blond best friend crossed her arms after putting her hand away. Sakura wondered what she forgot this time. On the other hand, Tenten, Temari and Hinata could only look at Ino. They knew this was going to happen.

"What did I forget?"

Ino, frustrated, shook Sakura's shoulders back and forth, "Sakura, how could you forget your promise to come with us to go shopping today?" Damn, was she always this strong? Sakura was getting a bit dizzy.

"We haven't shopped for like... ages!"

Sakura sweatdropped. No wonder she was pretty forceful and strong. It was about shopping.

"Can't we go for shopping next time?"

"Damn it Sakura! We've planned for this since last week!"

Now, Sakura couldn't retort back. She promised them. Staring at her mad friend, she noticed the hint of sadness and worry on Ino's face. Nevertheless, she decided on tuning the loud blond out. However, as soon as she was about to tune her out, Sakura noticed someone approaching behind Ino. Because of this, Sakura began to point at the person behind her, warning her of something while Tenten began on waving her hands to stop her from saying anymore.

"How could you Sakura? I mean, who cares for a bunch of guys living in a disgusting dorm, you can totally ditch them and come with us! W-What are you doing? Would you cut that out! I'm trying to convince you to come with us! Now, as I was saying..." And well, much to Ino's reaction, Sakura couldn't do anything. Her blond friend is pretty much serious in ranting at her.

"Prom's coming and -!" Ino was interrupted by a fake cough. Sakura slapped her forehead at this, along with Tenten and Temari, who were sighing, and Hinata just sweatdropped.

Oh well, as the saying goes, "birds of the same feather flock together." They are bestfriends alright; both slow. (Side note: Referring to Sakura's slow reaction from the first chapter and Ino's reaction)

"I'm sorry, Yamanaka. You were saying something about not caring for the students in the F-class dorm?" It was Anko. Obviously, she got impatient waiting from the door.

"Mi-mitarashi-sensei! Um, hi...?" Ino nervously raised her hand as a greeting gesture. That teacher could come up with the worst punishment on the spot, so who wouldn't be nervous? But it seems an incoming miracle was about to happen.

"Haruno. Let's go. I still have something to talk to you about in the faculty room," Anko walked away, ignoring Ino. She must've had her daily dangos today. Lucky Ino.

'Good thing sensei didn't punish Ino. Anyways...'Sakura looked over her friends, "Sorry guys, but, I really need to go," giving them an apologetic look.

Staring at the frustrated blond, she shook her head, "Next time, okay Ino?" and patted her friend's head. "Okay guys, see you tomorrow!"

After that, Sakura followed the impatient teacher.

"But, I just wanted to help her forget about it for a while and be happy..." Ino puffed her slightly red cheeks.

"We all want to help her Ino." Temari smiled.

Hinata nodded in agreement and Tenten gave her a thumbs-up.

Ino turned around and crossed her arms, whispering to herself, "_And besides, I don't like the idea of her being surrounded by guys...I don't want her to be taken away from me. She's mine."_

Erm, it seems Ino's feelings ran deeper than everyone thought.

* * *

><p>"I have to WHAT?" Sakura's voice echoed throughout the faculty.<p>

"'Do it or you're going to repeat a year', that's what Tsunade-sama said."

"But to raise the average grade of the F-class dorm...that's impossible! They already hate my guts, and because of that, I seriously doubt that they would even listen to me."

Anko just chuckled at the pink-haired girl and spun her chair to face the table, "Well, that's not my problem anymore," picking up a stick of dangos and eating one, she continued "I was only a messenger. It serves you right for sleeping in my class though."

At that, the pink-haired student stormed out of the room, "I'm going to see mom!" slamming the door shut.

"That's pretty harsh, Mitarashi-san. Did Tsunade-sama really order that?" A man with brown hair shaped like a pineapple finally reacted.

"She did, after I suggested it to her," the merciless purple-headed teacher laughed; her and her sadistic tendencies.

"Mitarashi-san, you do know that those students in the F-class dorm...are her fiancé candidates, right? Wouldn't that make it harder for Tsunade-sama to convince Sakura and the fiancé to marry when they hate each others' guts?"

"Oh Iruka, Iruka. You don't know Sakura at all. I knew her real mother and damn, they looked alike, had the same charm that no matter how you hate her in the beginning you would learn to like her and had the same attitude that can push other people to change for the good. And what do you think the students in the F-class dorm need?"

"How do you know her real mother?"

"It's simple. I hated her before," Anko then gave him a devious grin, "With that, this conversation is over. If you want to know more, go figure it out yourself."

She was about to leave to buy more dangos, when she noticed a sleeping teacher from the other table, "Or you could ask the sleeping Hatake over there," pointing at a sleeping silver-haired man with her right thumb, "Anyways, gotta go. My dango awaits."

Iruka was left dumbfounded, 'How does Hatake-san come in to all of this?'

* * *

><p>"And I'm telling you baa-chan! Everybody hates her guts right now so would you please cancel this girl's assignment to be our dorm manager?" Naruto spoke with his loud voice, "Not that I hate her or anything for touching my stuff, but she would be in danger! Like getting pranked and stuff or harassed or whatever the other guys or teme here would do to her!"<p>

"Oi. Dobe. I'm not going to kill her or anything," Sasuke interrupted the blond's explanation, "And what are you doing here anyways? I'm the one filing a complaint about having a dorm manager."

"I'm just trying to help the cute pink-haired girl from the likes of you and most especially the Akatsuki, -ttebayo!"

"Look, Tsunade-sama. I'm not one to dillydally on things and I get straight to the point. I want you to unassign the dorm manager. The Akatsuki is perfectly fine without her. The Dorm is fine without her," This time, a spiky orange-haired guy spoke. To anyone, he seems to be intimidating because of his distinguished piercings but, he's actually just an average kid with good leadership skills and charisma. Well, that's what the guys in the dorm say.

And so, the complaints continued on and on. Several reasoning was given. This was quite surprising for the principal's assistant that the busty principal herself wasn't running out of patience. She would've normally have thrown a lot of things (with the principal's desk being the usual first victim) at the insolent students.

"Um, please. Explain one by one. Don't do it simultaneously," The black-haired assistant tried on calming and controlling them but to no avail. They just continued ever so rudely.

"So Tsunade-baa-chan, please! Please remove her from the-!" Naruto was interrupted by the principal's sudden laugh.

"It's okay Shizune. Let them talk," The busty principal just smiled out of the blue, "It's not like they can do anything about it."

"What do you mean by that Tsunade-baa-chan?"

"So. Our complaints are being ignored."

"That's right Pein."

Sasuke didn't like the sound of this, "Why does she have to be our dorm manager? Care to tell?"

Tsunade laughed, "It's a punishment for her actually."

"What did she do, Baa-chan? She looked too nice to actually do something bad, unless I judged her wrong! What did she do? What did she do?"

"She slept in Anko-sensei's class."

"Whaaaat? That's IT?" Naruto crossed his arms, "But, Shikamaru sleeps in class all the time. Why isn't he getting any punishment?"

"Because..."

SLAM!

"TSUNADE!" Speaking of the devil, Sakura had just slammed open the door in anger, "WHY DO I HAVE TO DO SUCH A THING?" swiftly walking to Tsunade's desk and angrily smashing it with her both hands as it left a large crack, "TELL ME RIGHT NOW!"

Grabbing a chair and stepping on the edge of the desk with one foot, "TELL ME THIS INSTANT OR I'LL WRECK YOUR OFFICE!" Sakura completely lost her cool. This was one of the moments that any person may rethink and wonder if they really are just foster mother and daughter. 'Cause the resemblance in their violent tendencies is uncanny. REALLY Uncanny.

Then, there was an abrupt pause and silence.

Due to the sudden outburst and irrational actions, Sakura had only notice just now that three of the guys in the F-Class dormitory were in the office, staring at her. Gazing at the guys around her, she couldn't help but turn red, 'I swear to god...that was so embarrassing.'

"Um, Sakura-sama. What brings you here?" Shizune, who was not as caught in the moment as the others, asked the pink-haired female, "Please sit down."

Putting back the chair, she sat on it quietly. Still very red.

"Sasuke, Naruto and Pein. She will be your new dorm manager and you have no say in this. Tell that to the other guys living in the dorm as well. Sakura, if you try backing out on this, I'll expel you from school. Not only repeating a year but EXPEL you from school, along with the guys in the dorm."

"But...I don't understand. I only slept in Mitarashi-sensei's class, why does my punishment have to be this harsh?"

"You'll know in time."

"Tsunade-baa-chan, you're not being clear about this. Can't you explain why?"

Pein doesn't want to argue anymore unlike that loud blond. He was actually surprised that he made a move to convince the principal when he knew Tsunade was stubborn. He knew it was futile. So why? Oh yeah, 'cause the girl looked so much like that woman. He could only sigh, "I have nothing left to say," before standing up and leaving ahead of the other two boys.

Soon after Pein left, Sasuke stood up quietly and left, still not liking the whole idea and clearly disappointed at the conclusion of the discussion.

"Oi. Teme. Don't leave yet! We just have to convince baa-chan to-!" Sasuke closed the door before Naruto could follow him, "TEME! Why'd you close the door on me! You bastard! I might've gotten hurt if I didn't step back in time you know? Oi!" The blond then looked at the pink-haired female while opening the door, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I tried helping you out of this but, baa-chan...!" and glaring at the principal, "...wouldn't budge. I'll try helping you the best I can in the dorm, okay Sakura-chan?" With that, he left her with a cheerful grin, reassuring her that she has an ally.

And so, Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time this day. She really was left with no choice. "Hmm, it may not be that bad being a dorm manager. As long as I have an ally...Hopefully, that blond's a true ally."

Tsunade nodded, "He is. That kid never lies about these things. He's an honest kid. You can trust him. Now go on, I still have some paperwork to do."

"Okay mom."

Finally, there was real silence in the office; it was just her, her assistant and her paperwork.

"If I may ask Tsunade-sama, why did you lie to them?"

"About what?"

"The expulsion."

"If I didn't, would they stop pestering me about Sakura's punishment?"

Silence.

Chuckle.

"Did you know? Pein never really needed to complain to me because he knew I wouldn't budge. But because, Sakura looks so much like that woman, he couldn't help but complain."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing, Shizune." Chuckle, "Ahh, I want a bottle of sake right now."

Standing up from her chair, Tsunade turned around to look outside from the window, seeing a cherry blossom petal fall, "Oh? Someone's worried about Sakura."

"Did you say something, Tsunade-sama?"

"Nothing, Shizune. Nothing."

* * *

><p><em><em><em>Second Author's Note: This chapter may be serious but, the next chapter would be more funny stuff as Sakura will interact more with the guys. Mysteries won't be uncovered that soon, so just keep tuning in. Thank you. <em>__


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: I guess sorry for the long wait and by the long wait, I mean the LONG wait. It's been three years and here you go, another serious update. I don't know how much writing style changed because, I've been really rusty but, enjoy?_

**Visions / Voices**

_**Flashback**_

_Emphasis_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter III – And so the Dolphin Belonged<strong>

Orange and Blue hues were painted all over the faculty. It was already sunset nearly evening and a certain silver-haired teacher was still staring…erm…reading that one page in his favorite book. Really, just how long does, one has to take to finish a single page?

"Hmph. You've been reading the same page for quite a while," Anko bit off the last piece of dango from the stick, "Don't you think so, Hatake?"

Contrary to the state of the silver-haired teacher, who was out of it, Anko was enjoying this every second and she has Iruka, that foolish man, to thank for.

However, the problem in this equation is that she forgot who exactly she was dealing with.

Kakashi wasn't a known prodigy for nothing. He can smell the work of Anko Mitarashi in this ploy. He could only pity Iruka for falling for her manipulative ways. He got to hand it to Iruka though, he knew what to ask even if Anko didn't specifically mention anything.

'Hm, the sun's almost out.'

**Kakashi-kun! Look, what a beautiful sunset!**

'Maa, let's humor her for a bit.'

**See you tomorrow, Kakashi-kun!**

Closing the book calmly, Kakashi had put it away, "It's really quite unusual for you to notice such things, _Mitarashi-san_," as he slowly picked up his bag, "After all, didn't you say you're ignoring me for the rest of my life?"

Then, there was silence. Kakashi took this silence as an opportunity to finally leave as he finished fixing his stuff, but, before he could even take a step to the door, he was faced with a dango stick dangerously pointed at him.

Usually, a normal teacher would understand that his female coworker in front of him was pissed and should not be provoked any further if he values his life, but Kakashi wasn't normal, was he?

"It's quite interesting to see you react this much with mere words," Nope, he's not normal at all. And what's more, anyone could see that he was truly insane the moment he gave an eye-smile to the pissed off woman.

Just when he thought he had won, expecting his coworker to not bother him again, he heard a small snap. Kakashi took a short glance and saw broken pieces of the dango stick on the floor. 'Oh? She's not done yet?'

As if reading his mind, she answered his question, "Yes, Hatake, I'm not done yet. Far from over actually."

"Exactly how many weeks have you been in the school as Kurenai's substitute?" Anko started the battle once more.

Kakashi never really got the point in this, "More or less two weeks."

"But, you never really came to those classes, did you?"

"Got better things to do than teach. And the only reason why I'm even a substitute because, I owe Yuuhi-san and Sarutobi-san from a long time ago." Seriously, why did he even bother to answer the questions?

Oh, right. To humor this woman.

Sigh, curse his boredom.

He could've just walked home, where a soft couch was waiting for his aching back to lie down on and a collection of his Icha Icha series was waiting to be feasted upon with his eyes… well, eye.

'Ah, yes that would be nice.'

But, before Kakashi could even continue his daydream, he was interrupted by a loud laugh. He knew he should've just went home and left this crazy mad woman.

"Hah! You never changed at all! You'll always be a coward, Hatake," Anko grinned, "The moment you saw that name in the class list, you suddenly turned into a little dog, running away with your tail between your legs."

'I got you now, Hatake!'

"Is that all, Mitarashi-san?" The purple-haired sassy woman was taken aback by his answer. Her confidence gone. She expected more reactions from him, "Now if you would excuse me, I got a hot date with my bed tonight. Ja."

With a two-finger salute, Kakashi left Anko bewildered in the faculty room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Taking a seat, he wondered what that woman meant. Should he really ask? With a sigh, he found himself rubbing the sidewalls of his nose, along his scar before shaking his head, 'Let's leave that for later, Iruka. Right now, we have essay papers to grade on.'<strong>_

_**Getting the first three papers from the pile, "Hmm, Uzumaki Naruto…eugh!" Iruka felt his migraine starting. It was one of the students who wasn't doing well. Though, it's true that he has a certain fondness of the blond as if he was his own son, but, that was no excuse to treat him better than others.**_

'_**Sigh, I might as well come up a disciplinary lecture for that idiot,' he crossed out his essay, containing mostly of doodles. It was time for the next essay.**_

"_**Umino-san, is Uzumaki-kun really doing that bad?" A voice over his head spoke.**_

"_**Ah! You're awake, Hatake-san," Iruka faced the masked man, who stepped back a little to give way for Iruka to turn his chair, "Regarding about Naruto, I guess he is. I've tried various methods of teaching for him to adjust to and maybe find an approach that would suit him to help his grades."**_

"_**But, so far… I got nothing."**_

_**Kakashi made his eye crinkle, giving his usual eye smile, "What if I observe and assess Uzumaki-kun during your class? Would that help?"**_

"_**If you don't mind, that would help a lot! Arigato, Hatake-san."**_

"_**So who're you grading next?"**_

"_**Oh? Umm…" Iruka, scanning for the name at the upper part of the paper, recognized the name immediately as the subject he and Anko were talking about a while ago, "It's… Haruno Sakura."**_

_**Kakashi's eye smile disappeared.**_

_**There was a brief pause of hesitance from Iruka before he slowly continued, "No problem with Haruno-san here. Unlike Naruto, Haruno-san is a very bright student. I heard she wanted to study under the tutelage of Tsunade-sama since she wanted to be in the medical field."**_

"_**I see. She seems…promising," Iruka could feel a bit of tension from Kakashi, "Iruka. About my offer of assessing Uzumaki-kun…"**_

"_**Hatake-san," Iruka puts down the essay paper and his pen, "I'll be direct with you. I hope you take no offense."**_

_**Closing his eyes, ready to make an eye-to-eye, Iruka opened them to directly look at Kakashi's eye and with courage, asked the question that has been nagging behind his head, "Who is Haruno-san's mother?"**_

_**Kakashi felt a bit relieved with the question. With a simple eye smile, he answered, "A friendly former school nurse."**_

"_**Then, Hatake-san," Iruka swallowed his saliva out of nervousness, "who is Haruno-san's mother to you?"**_

"_**Umino-san, here…" Kakashi offered a tissue, as he noticed Iruka sweating a lot. 'What brought out this interrogation all of a sudden, I wonder?'**_

"_**I'm sorry, Hatake-san. I'm not even in the right to ask of this. I'm just tired being in the dark," Iruka slammed his face on his two palms out of frustration, "It's like everyone here in the faculty knew something that I don't and it seems to have something to do with Haruno-san. I feel like I'm not being acknowledged as part of this institution."**_

"_**Calm down, Umino-san," Kakashi patted Iruka's back in comfort, as much as a man can comfort another man. Well, Kakashi was… Kakashi and he was no good at this, but he had to help a comrade, right?**_

"_**Alright, Umino-san."**_

"_**I'll tell you everything."**_

That was pretty much what happened and Kakashi could only scratch behind his head at the memory. He knew coming back was more trouble than its worth, but, when he was asked by Kurenai to take her spot as she took her maternity leave, he couldn't say no. He really owed them that much.

Hopefully, that too soft-hearted coworker of his won't get a wind about his encounter with Anko. The silver-haired man was so sure that Iruka would probably blame himself if he finds out. Iruka could only take so much stress and frustrations in one day.

Stopping the swing he was sitting on, Kakashi opened the book that he was intensely reading before, that one book with the single page that he couldn't finish. And in it was a pressed cherry blossom flower.

**Kakashi-kun! Isn't this fun?**

**I'm not a child, Kakashi-kun!**

**Ne, Kakashi-kun...**

**Get up, Kaka-**

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

SPLASH!

The pressed cherry blossom flower flew from his book.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I updated in March like I was supposed to. Good. On another note, I would like to thank the favorites and follows despite the few reviews. As long as there are readers, I have to keep writing so, I am really grateful for the support. I would like to apologize since humor seem to have left me after the first chapter because, I noticed the big difference in the writing. I'm doing my best to get back on that track. Anyways, without further ado, here's Chapter 4._

**Visions/Voices**

_**Flashback**_

_Emphasis_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter IV – Three Strikes makes an Out.<strong>

Okay, so that didn't went well for our little pink-haired teen. Just when she was able to take a hold of a smudge of bravery by trying to rebel against her foster mother, Sakura only managed to embarrass herself in front of the very people she didn't want to have any connections with.

'Real smooth, Sakura.'

Sakura could only adjust her bag and grip the sling tightly, anticipating the madness that she was sure to experience soon. She was already near the dorm.

Well, the day couldn't get worse for the girl, could it?

"After, you," Speak of the devil, here's one of the people who could cause her more misery, a brown-haired boy, who she vaguely remembered as the owner of that gigantic dog. Is that size even normal for a dog? She's heard of St. Bernard breeds but, that size was just ridiculous.

"Um…thank you? Um…?"

"Geez. If you're going to be the dorm manager, at least remember our names."

_Strike 1._

In a split second after that statement, a sudden switch coming from her inner mind turned. Sakura quickly grabbed the guy's collar in fury, "You know what, _Inuzuka-san_? Why don't you-"and threw him towards the newly fixed main door of the dorm, forcing it open as he flew in.

"…Go in first?!" Poor door.

Breathing in and out, Sakura clenched her fist, ready to give him more a piece of her mind, when she was about to walk to her doom.

"Fire in the hole, un!"

SPLAT!

And those were the last things she heard before she was covered in rotten milk with a horrid smell.

Apparently, the day could get worse.

_Strike 2._

Slouching to look down and face the ground, no one could tell what kind of expression was on Sakura's face right now. She was silent at the moment. And while silent, an argument can be heard from the background.

"Ahahahaha! See that, danna? Told you, art is a bang, un!"

"That was unnecessarily messy and I had to wait too long. It wasn't even worth my time."

"But, danna! How could that not be worth your time, un?!"

"That was no art. I told you, Art is eternal and not fleeting."

However, before they could continue their argument any longer, both of them turned their heads when a cracking sound caught their attention.

Staring back at them was a pair of menacing eyes coupled with a hovering door up in the air. As puny as Sakura was, she still managed to forcefully remove the door from its hinges and lift it up above their heads. Poor door.

It died. AGAIN.

"You guys are so dead."

"Hey, you," Sakura turned her head to the source of the voice, only to see the same pale-looking pair of eyes of her good friend, Hinata. She wondered for a brief moment if they were relatives, before going back to her hell hath no fury mode.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Despite being the same eyes, she could tell that he wasn't as friendly as her friend. What pisses her off more though was that she was being looked down on figuratively and literally. He was up on the large interior balcony after all.

"You're not wanted here."

Those words made the pink-haired falter, causing her to lose her grip on the door.

"My thoughts exactly," Beside the pale-eyed guy was an older dark-haired guy, who resembled another person this time, in which said person was one of the people who saw her embarrassing failed attempt in the principal's office. Except this guy had stress lines.

'These people…' Sakura puts down the door, 'are the worst!'

"So, is ugly going to give up and cry now or do I get to observe more of your display of emotions? It's rather interesting really," This time the voice came from behind her near her right ear.

Due to the sudden voice, after she was sneaked upon, the girl reflexively moved her arm to elbow the person behind her almost giving a death blow, but, was quickly stopped by a hand. The same hand that stopped Sakura's next combo which was her fist of the same arm that tried to elbow him by grabbing her wrist.

It was quite strange at how this guy was smiling at her yet, he doesn't even mean it. Is he mocking her?! Sakura's temper flared up even more. No one managed to stop her strength before.

"Sai-san. Let go of my wrist."

Sadly, he wasn't letting it go anytime sooner.

"He's not going to let go not until we discuss further of your appointment as our dorm manager," It was the guy with multiple piercings from the office.

Okay, this Sakura will try to be civilized and not tear off doors from hinges like normal girls do. With a huff, she held in her anger once again, "Pein-san."

Hearing footsteps, Sakura looked around to see everyone together in the same room, feeling a lot of eyes on her. In effect, she didn't have to hold in her anger anymore because, it melted into nothing and was replaced by anxiety by the number of people giving her distrusting looks.

'Just great. I can handle a few, but all of them here together?'

As much as she wanted to back out, her academics were at stake here so she steeled herself and dismissed her nerve-wracking thoughts before continuing on addressing the man in piercings.

"Seeing as you are the leader of this group…" She took a deep breath, "From what I learned during introductions yesterday, couldn't you at least control your members?"

"I mean…I'm dripping _wet_ with _rotten milk_."

The orange-haired leader only sipped his cup of tea in response.

"Well?"

"It is not my responsibility anymore of what my members do as long as you hold the title as dorm manager," He gave her a stone cold look, "Since you are the dorm manager, you hold the control."

"If you can't handle such responsibility, then, you are not fit to be a dorm manager," Pein took another sip.

"However, by the way you made a ruckus yesterday of having a….cleaning spree without taking consideration of others' privacies. I will never acknowledge you as dorm manager."

The blond boy full of sunshine was about to go in defense for her, when she had enough of civil. Sakura removed her wrist from Sai's grip and took apart the doorknob from the door, throwing the door knob closely at Pein's face and through the sofa. She made a hole on the headrest and a dent on a wall. AND massacred the door even more.

She really doesn't know how to control, does she?

"You ungrateful little shits! I cleaned the whole house to make you guys live comfortably and this is what I fucking get?!"

"Who told you I wanted to be a dorm manager in the first place?"

"And I'M the one who gets to decide if I'm fit or not!"

"And NO ONE's giving up anything! I'm not giving up and I'll take all of you guys on!"

"Give it your best shot! SHANNARO!"

Removing his pinky from his ears, Shikamaru uttered his catchphrase of 'Troublesome', before he sighs, "So what you're saying is…"

"A bet," a man in a mask that covered half his face interrupted the pineapple-headed genius.

"Oh? The little shrimp wants to make a bet?"

"Such an interesting proposition, don't you think Kisame-senpai?"

Putting down the cup, Pein calmly stood up and walked in the middle of the room near Sakura, "Alright, we accept that bet."

Sakura blinked her pair of green-colored eyes and was only able to muster a "Huh?" She was too dumbfounded by the sudden conclusion of the conversation.

Wait a minute. Was she just manipulated?

"If by the end of the month, you fail to get everyone's approval as dorm manager. You will leave the F-class Dorm and tell Tsunade-sama yourself that you are to be dismissed as dorm manager and be expelled from school with us making your life a living hell outside the school as a bonus."

Come to think of it. It was odd for Sakura of how everyone is together in the same place at the same time.

"If you win, we will accept you as dorm manager and help your goal of raising the dorm's average grade."

At the sudden realization, her eyes opened wide as she darted around to look at the expression on their faces. Each sporting a playful glint on their eyes with an exception of the blond, Naruto. He had a clueless idiotic look on his face. He wasn't told of anything about a bet.

"Hahaha! Look at the fucking bitch! You only realize this now?"

"Hidan, you idiot, keep quiet."

"You can't tell me what I can fucking do, damn Kakuzu!"

"Do you want me to stitch that potty mouth of yours?"

"Tsk."

Finally, Sakura finished processing, "Um, w-well!"

"Hmm, I wonder what happened to that burning spirit of yours awhile ago, ugly?" Sai did it again. He sneaked near her ear. This time on her left.

Again, by reflex, Sakura reacted and flipped him by grabbing his collar, "Stop creeping on me like that!"

"Hmph, I'll do it! I'll even make you all say that I'm a great dorm manager!"

"SHANNARO!"

* * *

><p>What has she done? She just made everything worse!<p>

Sakura was completely manipulated into it, 'I wonder who the mastermind was that created the scenario.'

Even though Pein was the leader, she was so sure that he wasn't the one who planned it. From what the she could analyze, that dog boy was not part of the equation or at least the part where she threw him was an unexpected variable. Another thing that she was sure of was that Tsunade-sama was right. Naruto was truly an ally. He had no idea about the planned manipulation that lead to the creation of the bet.

'Hmm, if things weren't how it should be…' Sakura took a glance at the list of items on the paper on her hand while walking, 'Then, this task of making me go on a grocery shopping for dinner is just a disguise for something else.'

'Just what are they planning?' She tried wracking her brains out to figure on what they were intending to do when she was asked to do the grocery shopping for dinner since she was supposedly the dorm manager, but, nothing came to mind.

Sakura sighed, 'Might as well get this over with. Whatever this is, bring it!'

Making her way to a corner, she decided to go for a shortcut through the park to quickly make her way to the grocery store. Taking a glimpse of the paper on her hand, she checked the list again. Maybe the clue was in there?

Tomatoes, instant ramen, miso powder, milk, firecrackers and explosives, a butcher's knife, bacon, chicken…

'Wait what…?' Sakura backtracked on the list, 'Who the hell wants firecrackers and explosives for dinner?!'

Passing by the pond in the park, Sakura was too distracted with the strange list to even notice a metal wire swiftly wrapping around her ankle.

And with one tug…

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

SPLASH!

_Strike 3._

First, she was insulted of her capabilities. Second, she was horribly pranked with rotten milk and manipulated into a bet. Third, she was tripped into the pond. And this is all in one day!

Sakura could feel her tears brimming on her eyes out of anger and frustration, ready to pour down, but, no. She refuses to cry right now. She would never give those bastards the satisfaction of her tears.

Lifting herself up from the pond, the pink-haired… well, it was a bit darker and dirtier beyond its recognizable color so we wouldn't call it exactly pink. Let's just scratch that and say that Sakura had removed herself from the pond, twisted her hair and parts of her clothes to make them as dry as she could.

She looked at the crumpled and soaked paper on her hand. The handwritten list of items can't be identified anymore. Well, as if she needed them in the first place.

'Screw the fucking list!' With a huff, she threw the paper away, 'Those bastards better have money…' and glared at the nearby payphone, 'I'm ordering them expensive take out.'

But before she could even take a step towards the payphone, a cherry blossom flower flew right in front of her. Sakura held out her hand and had let the cherry blossom land on her palm.

'It's pressed?'

'Did someone lose it?'

While she was too focused on the pressed cherry blossom, she didn't notice the footsteps that accompanied the arrival of the flower so when she lifted her head to look ahead of her, she was met with the unexpected.

The feeling of warmth wrapped around her torso.

'Wha-? What's going on?!'

Her face turned red for the first time.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note 2: This next note would be about news regarding changing titles. I'm still trying to figure out what appropriate title should this story have. I am open to suggestions. Just review or pm me if you have any. Lastly, I will be having a poll. Seeing as this is Sakura-centric, here's the poll's question.<em>

**Who should Sakura end up with at the end of the story?**

_I am interested to see on what you guys think. Again, thank you and will try to update next month!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: I thought of having some kind of April Fools ' Day Chapter like pranking you guys with a fake update but, I got too caught up with more important things._

_Again, I want to thank you for tuning in to this story with its snail-like pace._

_On another note, counting the votes on the reviews and the votes from the poll in my profile. Here's the tally so far:_

**Who should Sakura end up with at the end of the story?**

Shisui – 1 _(Wow on this. He's not even in the story... yet!)_

Itachi – 1

MultiSaku – 1

_Just keep on voting. The story is still a long way to go, trust me. Anyways, I won't dillydally any longer. Here's the chapter that you guys have been waiting for, the supposed April Update turned supposed May, now turned June Update._

**Visions / Voices**

**_Flashback_**

_Emphasis_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter V – When the Scarecrow Was Reminded and Mr. Sandman Gets Excited<strong>

It was only more or less two days since Sakura got her horrible punishment from that hell-spawn of a teacher. Did the sweets start getting their revenge after she ate most of their world from that dream the other day? Misery seemed to have followed her a lot after that happened.

But, currently, that wasn't the real thoughts that distracted her at the moment, they were just diversions from the real situation. She could think about the sweets later since there were more important things at hand here.

YES, far more important things.

And those include three things.

One, she was _fucking_ wet. AGAIN. Two, she wondered who made her _fucking_ trip into the pond. Third, she also wondered just who the _fuck _is this guy, hugging her out of nowhere?!

SMACK!

Sakura heard a thump and groan soon after. Hopefully this guy who took advantage of her has medical insurance, because, Sakura was so sure he's going to need the hospital when she's with finished with him.

Or so she thought.

Taking in the person's looks, Sakura felt a chill on her spine. She could recognize this man. Who else wears a weird silver hair in a crooked style?

"K-Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura panicked. She just punched almost the lights out of a teacher. Well, her former teacher.

"Ah, Haruno-chan. You sure do pack a punch," Patting the back of his pants as he slowly stood up, Kakashi winced at the immediate sting on his cheek when the wind blew, "Did Tsunade-sama influence you that much?"

"Are you okay, sensei?"

"Better than you, I hope? Why were you dripping wet, Haruno-chan?" Kakashi gave her a teasing eye-smile, "If you wanted to take a dip, you could've used the school's pool instead of the pond."

"I… don't really want to talk about it. More importantly..." Crossing her arms, her emerald orbs observed him, as if judging him, "Are you into high school girls, sensei? Suddenly hugging me like that."

'I didn't think she'd brought that up. Changing the topic is a fail.'

"Well…"

Kakashi laughed nervously before quickly changing to his serious face, staring back at her eyes intently, 'She's an exact copy though…'

"And if I say I was interested into high school girls, particularly a pink-haired female high school student?"

There was a long silence as Sakura was caught off guard, 'He… what?!'

Opening her mouth as she tried to give a supposed smart-ass reply, she found herself not being able to. She couldn't find her voice. Sakura's brain was trying really hard to comprehend everything that was happening when in an instant, she spontaneously combusted.

If you thought her face was red awhile ago, that wasn't even enough of a red compared to the red on her face right now.

Kakashi chuckled in amusement.

"I was just kidding, Haruno-chan."

"Sensei!" She huffed, "Hmph, good thing you're a teacher."

"Now, now. Before you beat me up like you intended to awhile ago, what were you really doing in the pond?"

"Honestly, I don't know either," Sakura sighed, "I was just making a shortcut to buy some groceries listed in the paper for the whole dorm but, all of a sudden, I felt a yank on my foot and fell into the pond."

"A yank?"

"Yeah, it was really weird."

"I suppose that paper's forever a goner, huh?" Kakashi took note of the paper's existence missing from the girl's hand.

"I guess so. I was about to go to the payphone though to give them a piece of my mind and order them expensive take out when I saw this pressed cherry blossom," Sakura opened her hand, "Uh, I don't see anyone else here. Is this yours?"

"You can have it."

"Huh?"

"Why don't we go to that payphone to make do of your plans?"

"Are you sure, sensei?"

Kakashi simply nods his head, "So you were talking about buying food for a dorm?" Starting with a single step, the silver-haired teacher put his hands in his pockets, leading the way to the payphone, gesturing her to follow him.

Sakura fell in step with Kakashi quickly, "Yeah, I was buying food for the F-Class Dorm since I'm their dorm manager now."

"With your own money?"

"Oh, Kakuzu-san gave me the budget for it. Pein-san told me he handled all the budgeting in the dorm, " she blinked in wonder, "He was a bit reluctant in giving me the money though."

"By Kakuzu, you mean Akatsuki's Kakuzu?"

"Akatsuki?"

"Ah, nevermind," the silver-haired teacher stopped beside the payphone booth, 'Careful, Kakashi. Now's not the time to slip up.'

Blinking her eyes at the man in front of him, she wondered for a moment why he stopped walking when she noticed they were already at the payphone, 'Oh.'

Walking to the booth herself, she was about to pick the phone up when the wind passed by. Sakura was reminded of what happened moments ago. She almost forgot that she was fully drenched in water, which was the reason why in reaction, she embraced her own frame and shivered a bit.

"Are you not going home yet, sensei?"

On the other hand, Kakashi was looking into his own thoughts about the girl in front of him when he was awaken from his deep thinking with her question, "Pardon?"

Sakura shook her head and finally continued her action of picking up the phone, as she punched in the numbers, "It's ringing."

"Are you sure you want to order expensive takeout with someone like Kakuzu in the dorm?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I gather from the looks of things. They don't like you, huh?"

Sakura had put down the phone, cutting off the other line, "Well, I don't like them either, so we're even."

Kakashi patted her head, "Do you really want to fight fire with fire? You may have that temper of yours," as he gave an eye smile, "but, only a calm and gentle water can douse a raging fire."

Removing his hand off her head, the girl gave a glare at him, "I'm not a kid."

"Hm, it's getting colder. I think…" Kakashi removed his blazer, covering Sakura up. Of course he'd notice her shivers, he's Kakashi after all "…you'll need this on your way home."

The intense glare disappeared as she was surprised yet again by her former teacher. His behavior was quite odd. As far as she could remember, this teacher in front of her was quite different from the teacher she knew before. He was far more distant and would always look at her with something akin to sadness. Not that Sakura could remember much since she was only in grade school at that time.

Now, he seems more caring and looks at her differently. It was like he's looking at her yet at the same time he's not.

Strengthening her grip on the blazer that covered her shoulders, Sakura called out to him upon noticing that he was already a few good meters away from her.

"Where are you going, Kakashi-sensei? What about your blazer?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Haruno-chan."

Well, that was eventful. The day was so eventful that she could feel her soul leaving from her body already. What was she supposed to do now with dinner?

Looking around, she saw through the corner of her eye a part of convenience store's name's light blinking, threatening to run out of electrical power. Maybe, she'd have a bit of luck there?

'Hmm, hopefully there's something I could buy in there for dinner.'

'And ice cream, gotta have some ice cream.'

Oh sweet tooth Sakura, let's just hope you know what you're doing eating an ice cream after being doused with tons of cold liquids all day.

* * *

><p>Clinks and clanks distracted some of the males in the dormitory with a few of them approaching the dining area. Someone was bustling around the kitchen they concluded.<p>

Seeing some empty plastic lying around the dining table and a hanging blazer on one of the chairs, a guy with a similar hairstyle as the current dorm manager's best friend looked more confused than ever at a red head who was holding a wood-carving tool, "Oh, so she actually came back, un? I thought you were getting rid of her, Sasori-danna?"

Gripping the tool on his hand tighter, the red head responded with an annoyed tone as he misunderstood the blonde's question as smug sarcasm, "Shut up, Deidara. It seems like the doll was not as fragile as we thought."

"Who told you she was?" Sasori looked at his left and saw the other red head in the dormitory, who looked similar to him with the tattoo on the other's forehead as their most noticeable difference between them.

"Sabaku."

"Akasuna."

"Uzumaki?" Another blonde, who broke the tense atmosphere in the dining area, was added in the fray.

"Don't be stupid, dobe." And of course, tugging along with him is his best friend, who sat down immediately.

"I was not being stupid, Sasuke-teme! _—_Wait, is that ramen I smell from the kitchen?" At the word 'ramen', a complaint from another male who had just arrived resounded loudly.

"Really, after being sent outside to buy groceries for dinner, is that all she can cook? I'm better off eating Akamaru's dog food. This is like the third ramen dinner this week." It was Kiba with his dog, Akamaru.

However, soon after his complaint, in came a plump looking boy with swirls on his cheeks as he immediately sat down on one of the chairs answering to Kiba's complaint, "What's wrong with ramen? It's still food. I just wish the food would come here faster."

"Yeah, Chouji's right! What's wrong with ramen, Kiba?" Naruto, who as everyone knows was a ramen maniac, was ready to argue with Kiba and teach the wonders of his beloved ramen when he was interrupted by none other than Shikamaru.

"Before you give us a rant about ramen Naruto, why don't we all sit down and wait quietly?" The pineapple-haired genius scratched behind his head as a habit, "I have a feeling that anymore word from any of you will cause a world war in the dining room, which means another mess. How troublesome."

"Then, let her clean it, Nara." Shikamaru turned his head to Sasuke.

"I'm sure the principal would appreciate our gesture of torturing her so much in one day, Uchiha. Judging from the wet hanging blazer on the chair, I assume some incident happened when she was out."

Just then, Shikamaru felt a slight vibration from the ground on his right side.

"You're acting quite odd, Nara."

It was Neji, dragging out a chair from the table. With grace and etiquette like any Hyuuga, he sat down with no unnecessary movements as he set his table napkin, "I never pegged you to be the talkative type."

"Hmm, the correct word for that, Neji-chan, is probably love according to this book I read. Lazy-ass was the first person who met the dorm manager after all and it was love at first sight. That is why he's currently protective over her."

"L-Lazy-a—your nickname-giving hobby never ceased to take me by surprise, Sai," Shikamaru puts his head on the table, "Your conclusion is totally wrong, but, I won't bother giving you any explanations. Too troublesome."

Chouji crossed his arms, showing a bit of impatience for the food, "The reason is actually a name, Sai. It's not a word."

"Oh, and who is this reason?"

The plump boy shook his head, as if trying to get rid of a threatening image of a certain blonde girl from his head, "Ino."

"Wasn't that girl a fangirl of yours, otouto?" With the same grace and long hair as Neji, Itachi also sat down on a chair, getting ready for dinner.

"Shut up, aniki."

While in the midst of their small talks and arguments, unknown to them, Sakura can perfectly hear them from the other side of the wall inside the kitchen, which was why after she was done preparing dinner, she had busted open the door loudly to make an interruption and gave a reply to the last small talk she heard from them while pushing a tray cart.

"_Ino_ was a _former_ fangirl of the Uchiha. Just to make it clear," Sakura puts a bowl of tomato soup in front of Sasuke, "And I would appreciate it if you guys won't talk about my _best friend_ badly."

"Now, for those gentlemen who are still standing, please take your seats and for the gentlemen who just arrived, please take your seats as well," Sakura took a glance at Sasuke, "And if you're wondering as to how I knew about the tomato soup, I did say that Ino was a former fangirl of yours."

Hidan, who had just arrived, was a bit pissed at her for ordering him around as soon as he got to the dining area, "Who the hell are you bossing around, bitch?! I'm a fucking-"

"Asshole?" Sakura glared at him, "It's either you take your seat or you'll not be getting any dinner."

"Clearly, I am not in the mood for any of your bitching, because, my day wasn't exactly fucking rainbows and unicorns," Removing the plastics she left on the dining table, Sakura placed more food and had set up the plates, spoons, chopsticks and glasses for everybody, "If you're not satisfied with what you guys have, then you might as well blame the culprit who gave me a fake list of groceries and tripped me by the pond."

"I mostly bought food from the convenience store since I was drenched in water from head to toe and combined them with what are left in the kitchen."

The males who have been keeping quiet on the table after she arrived, which was a rare occurrence, stared at the displayed food in front of them as if asking themselves if it was possible for a food from a convenience store to look so good. It was a bit of variety, really.

There was ramen, not just your daily instant ramen but a real home-made ramen, a pyramid of onigiris with different types of fillings, but it wasn't also your convenient store type of onigiris, it was remade with freshly cooked rice mixed with the reheated onigiri rice bought from the convenient store, and pan-fried pork belly, which she found from the freezer, drizzled with curry sauce.

"Geh, I guess the little shrimp can do a little cooking," The blue giant in the room grinned at Sakura, showing his sharp teeth in an attempt of a little bit of intimidation, "I wonder if the food will taste as good as how it looks."

"If you don't want it, don't eat it," Sakura crossed her arms together.

"How much was the total cost, kid?" From her left, she received a stare from the masked man before. Since he was concerned with money, Sakura concluded that Kakuzu truly has an obsession with money.

"If you want the receipt, here," Sakura reached from her small pocket and gave a small piece of paper along with the leftover money from the budget that was given to her, "And the change, too."

"Are we just gonna talk or can we start digging in?" Chouji, who couldn't wait any longer, grunted.

"Actually, Chouji-san, I still have something to tell everyone here," Sakura braced herself and bowed down in 90 degrees, "I apologize for my sudden intrusion in the dormitory and for messing with your privacies. However, despite my apology, I am not admitting defeat. Even if you had plotted something against me like Akasuna-san, I will never admit defeat."

Just how loud were they earlier for Sakura to hear and figure out the person responsible for the grocery-pond incident? Putting that question aside, the female dorm manager stood up straight.

She looked directly at each one of them without hesitation, "I will gain your acknowledgement as the dorm manager."

"And I will start this by reintroducing myself properly this time."

"My name is Haruno Sakura, your dorm manager."

"Sabaku," Not expecting anymore response, Sakura was startled to hear from Gaara, who had been quiet like the rest of them, just when she was about to take the blazer from the chair to leave the dining area.

"Sabaku no Gaara," Sakura could only assume that this was the soft spot that Temari was talking about?

The only guy with a face paint could only smile a little at his little brother, as if understanding the inner workings of his brother's mind, "Sabaku no Kankuro."

"How troublesome. Nara Shikamaru."

Naruto, who was getting it, reintroduced himself happily to Sakura, "Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage, -ttebayo!"

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan!"

The hyper blond nudged the dark-haired boy after his introduction. Sasuke had been staring at his soup for quite some time, "C'mon you too, teme!"

"Shut up, dobe," Intensely looking at the still shocked pink-haired girl from their responses, he smirked in amusement, "Uchiha Sasuke."

"I must say from your short temper, you seemed to have cooled down a bit, Haruno-san. I'm Uchiha Itachi and thank you for the food."

"It's impossible to cool down when you were soaked to death the whole day, Itachi-san," Sakura glared at him a little, expecting for a comeback when she had received none except for an amused stare.

"But, it looks like you haven't cooled down enough, little doll. Akasuna Sasori, artist."

"Iwa no Deidara, un!"

"Deidara-senpai, let me have a turn! Hi there, Flower-chan! I'm Tobi!"

"Tch, Inuzuka Kiba and this guy here's Akamaru. Don't touch him, alright?"

"I really don't get why we have to reintroduce ourselves, Ugly, but, since dickless did it, I might as well do it. I'm Sai."

"Hyuuga Neji. If you're looking for Lee, he's out and staying over at Gai-sensei."

"I'm Hidan. Better remember my fucking name, bitch!"

"Kakuzu. Good work on the money, kid."

"Aburame Shino."

"Ze**tsu**."

"You could've at least served us tea as well, Haruno-san. I'm Pein."

"Akimichi Chouji! Are we done? I really really want to eat right now."

One by one they had reintroduced themselves to Sakura and Sakura who was shocked by their responses, didn't understand what they were thinking. She had only reintroduced herself for the purpose of clearing up the terrible incidents from their first meeting to now so that she can start again with a blank slate. Well, if they could get that, she guessed that it was probably their way of making a blank slate with her as well.

It was a bit helpful she supposed, but, she had a feeling of an impending headache coming her way soon. What happened a while ago might've also been the signal for the start of the bet they had agreed with. Sakura should be careful from this point on.

"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto paused for a slurp of ramen. "Aren't ya going to take a seat yourself and eat with us?"

Everyone also paused midway to hear her answer, with an exception of Chouji, though some of them was not as obvious with their pause and looked like they were still eating but in a more sluggish manner.

"Uh, No. Naruto-san," Was this a trap question? Was what Sakura wondered. She was after all unacknowledged for now so, eating with them never really crossed her mind.

"But, why? You made the food and all. –ttebayo! By the way, have you ever thought of becoming a ramen chef, Sakura-chan?"

"I…"

"Can't you see you're bothering her, dobe? Clearly, she's not entitled to eat with us…yet."

Sakura took note of the 'yet' at the end of the sentence. Does this mean she can hope that she'll be acknowledged soon? But, that doesn't change the fact on what she thought of a while ago was correct. She wasn't welcome in the table.

"What the heck do you mean by that, teme? She cooked for us! She should be eating the food she cooked all by herself, -ttebayo!"

"It's okay, Naruto-san," Putting her hair behind her ear, she picked up the blazer from the empty chair, "I already have my own food to eat."

From the empty chair, Sakura raised a plastic bag with a gallon of ice cream and showed it to the ramen maniac with a smile, reassuring the kind boy. He truly was an ally like what her foster mother said, "See?"

"So I'll just be heading in my room now. Just call me if you guys are finished so I can wash the dishes, alright Naruto-san?"

"We can do the dishes you know, Sakura-chan."

"It's fine, Naruto-san. If I want to get acknowledged, I'd better do my duties, ne? I need to work hard for it," Sakura gave him a pat on his head and left to go to her room.

The blonde who was previously busy with his ramen, touched his head where she had pat on, taking a break from eating. That was the first time a girl other than his mother had touched his head like that. It felt nice.

"You okay there, dickless?"

"Uh—yeah!"

Unknown to him, the people near him noticed the redness on his ears as Naruto continued eating but quietly this time.

* * *

><p>Throwing the ice cream container to the only trash bin in her room, the pink-haired girl was quite satisfied at the moment. She managed to make a restart with the guys and she confirmed an ally. AND she just ate one gallon of wonderfully delicious sweet ice cream.<p>

It was HEAVEN!

Ehem. Erm.

'So that's one people for acknowledgement down. How many more to go?'

Lying down on her bed, she turned to her side and faced the cabinet. Hanging on the hanger was the blazer that was lent to her.

'Looks like I owe, sensei for both that and the advice.'

'Speaking of sensei, why do I keep seeing him hanging around in the highschool department faculty room?'

'Come to think of it, I never knew what class he taught. Wasn't he supposed to be in the elementary school department though?'

Clearing her mind, Sakura heard a knock from the door. She assumed that it was probably time for her to wash the dishes so, she pushed herself upwards from the bed and gathered her bearings as she stood up and walked to the door.

'I wonder who was the unlucky bastard that was chosen to call me out?'

As she met clear pearl-colored eyes, Sakura automatically processed that the unlucky bastard outside the door was Neji. Who else has pearl-colored eyes in the dorm?

"Dishes."

"Yeah, yeah I know," Sakura stepped out of the door, "Uh, so… how was the food?"

"If you want a compliment, go to Uzumaki or Akimichi."

"I was asking for your opinion, not theirs."

"If you really want to know, you'll never get my acknowledgement through food. I hope that much is obvious to you."

The girl sighed, trying to not let her temper get to her, "Then, how will I get your acknowledgement, Mr. High and Mighty?"

"Never. As long as you're friends with that pathetic and disgrace of a Hyuuga, I will never acknowledge you."

'That was a wrong answer, mister.'

Pulling a fast one on him, Sakura made use of his hair as she grabbed them with a forceful tug. She managed to pull him backwards when he was about to turn his back on her and leave and at the same time, move away to avoid falling down with him to the ground.

This was a great humiliation for the prideful Hyuuga. He was caught off guard and it was all his fault for forgetting the woman's inhuman strength. How could he forget that she was that monster principal's foster kid? Now, he was on the floor being looked down on by the same girl who he underestimated.

And to even mock him more, the girl pulled on his hair again towards her as she neared her face towards his own, glaring down on him with a smug grin before she whispered into his ear.

"Pathetic? Disgrace? Do you want me to bring you a mirror right now, _Hyuuga-san_?"

"Just as I implied during dinner. Don't ever talk badly about my friends again."

And like a burst of whirlwind, she disappeared from his sight. She went to the kitchen on her own.

"Tch."

* * *

><p>"Dammit, Sakura. Can't you at least control yourself even once?" Scrubbing the plate on her hand even harder, she was trying to forget the exchange that had happened in the hallway outside her room. Sakura really tried her best yet that blank restart with that guy went to waste. He's totally going to hate her throughout this bet, which means she's going to lose even if the others will give their acknowledgement.<p>

"But, he deserves it though for saying stuff about Hinata like that…" Sakura scrunched up her eyebrows, "I wonder what crawled up his ass, Hinata's such a nice girl. I mean they're even related and all!"

Halfway done with the dishes, she wiped off of her face a foam from the dishwashing soap with her right arm.

"It's still there."

"Huh?" Quickly blinking her eyes, she looked behind her to see Gaara standing behind her with his hands in his pockets. She was a bit dumbfounded. What was Gaara doing here?

"The foam… it's still there."

Sakura was about to reach again for the foam on her face when he went ahead and removed it for her. As a result, she was once again dumbfounded.

"Um, thanks—"

"I'll help you."

"Huh? Help with what?"

"I'll help you wash the dishes."

"Um, no. It's okay! I can finish this myself," With that, she began to reach for the sponge to start washing the other dishes when she was stopped by a hand on her wrist. Sakura scrunched up her eyebrows for the second time this night, confused at his gesture. 'Just what is he trying to do?'

"You have a fever. Go to bed."

"No, I don't! I'm perfectly fine."

Holding the back of her head, Gaara pulled her towards him and leaned his forehead on hers. She was already flushed from her starting fever but, now she was even redder than before and the girl could feel her burning cheeks. She didn't react like this when she had an encounter with the Hyuuga minutes ago even if they were in the same close proximity.

'Well, I was angry during that time, it's not like I had the time to get uncomfortable unlike now,' she reasoned in her head, 'Ugh! Sakura, focus!'

"Is that what you call 'perfectly fine'?" His eyes were intensely on hers. It was like that for a minute when Gaara started to pull away his forehead, but by the time he pulled away his forehead completely, he was pushed away by the flushed girl in front of him.

"Uh…"

"Go rest."

Out of discomfort, Sakura had clutched the end of her shirt before deciding to walk towards the door. She was curious though. How come he knew she had a fever? As a person who can't help but be naturally curious and brave enough to ask, Sakura stopped just before she grabs the doorknob.

"How'd you know?"

There was a small clang coming from the plate he was handling while putting it in its place.

"…Red cheeks."

"Huh?" Sakura didn't hear his soft answer.

"Your cheeks were unusually red during dinner."

"Oh." She blinked, 'He noticed that? Even I only found out about my own fever after I got mad at Hyuuga.'

'I guess he's not that bad. You were right, Tem.'

And with that, Sakura uttered a small word of 'thanks' to the younger red head in the dorm before she went out of the kitchen as a small smile was painted on his face with no one to see.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note 2: Finally done with this, ugh. I can't believe my humor ran away from me. Sadly, you might not see the next chapter anytime sooner. Pray for inspiration to come guys. For this story I suppose? I actually wanted to do a major overhaul for all the chapters. Somehow, I feel disgusted with the inconsistency in my writing, but the procrastination bug bit me.<em>

_But, in reality, I'm just actually planning to write in another fandom rather than go with the Shikamaru and Sakura psychological story I planned earlier, as what was mentioned in the "Tea in the Summer" oneshot I posted because, it's what I feel like doing these days. (YES, the SHAMELESS advertising.)_

_Sigh, Naruto Gaiden probably got me tired with all the trolling Kishi did._

_Also, I guess from this chapter you can see what route I had for Neji in the story. Yes, guys. It was the pre-Chuunin Exam type of Neji. And as you can see there were also a tidbits of information lying around the chapter if you guys were paying attention, though it was really obvious in my case, ha. ha._

_Err…_

_Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. You'll see me around the Ansatsu Kyoushitsu fandom wandering around for a while. For the mean time, keep on voting in the poll or in the review and keep on suggesting for this story's new title in the review as well!_


End file.
